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Former Wow Boy Vic Lindskog Dies At Age 88

Victor J. Lindskog, Class of 1943 and center of the celebrated 'Wow Boys' football team, died February 28, 2003, at age 88.

Lindskog is best know as the center for Frankie Albert on Stanford's team that went 10-0 and beat Nebraska 21-13 in the Rose Bowl. Under Coach Clark Shaughnessy, the 'Wow Boys' introduced the T-Formation to the football world.

Vic was later elected to be the center on the Stanford Football Team of the Century, chosen in 1991. He was also elected to the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame.

Vic was born in Roundup, Montana, on December 3, 1914. He started his life working in the coal mines that supported his hometown. In 1933 he moved to Cut Bank, Montana where he met and married Doris Fee in 1938.

During this time he worked in the oil fields in the local area and became involved with American League amateur boxing. Ken Pardue, a local oilman, sponsored him to go to Santa Ana,California, to box under the top boxing coach in the nation at the time.

As a sidelight he started school at Santa Ana Junior College, where he played blocking back. That was where Jim Reynolds found him and convinced him to move North and attend Stanford .

After beating Nebraska in the Rose Bowl in 1941 Vic stayed at Stanford as assistant coach in boxing and football. At this time he also finished his Bachelors in PE. 4-F for the draft, he worked in the shipyards in San Francisco during the nights of WW II until he joined the Philadelphia Eagles in 1943.

He played center and linebacker until 1947 at which time he was moved solely to center. The Eagles won the World Championships in football in 1948 and 1949. In 1950 Vic became the line coach of the Eagles where he stayed until the coaching staff was released in 1954.

The following year Vic joined the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League, where he was the second line coach in franchise history. He held this position from 1955 through the first half of the 1959 season. At that time he was made interim head coach, the third head coach in franchise history.

He resigned his job at the end of the 1959 season. Following that, Vic returned to Stanford and finished his Masters inPhysical Education with a minor in History. He subsequently went to coach at Bakersfield J.C., where he was the line coach on the Junior RoseBowl Championship team of 1960.

He next became the offensive line coach for the Los Angeles Rams underBob Waterfield. When Bob left, Vic stayed on as line coach under Hamp Pool, a teammate from the 'Wow Boys.'

In 1968 Vic stopped coaching and became an NFL scout for Quadra, a consortium for which he scouted college football players for four NFL teams. While working there, Vic moved to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and scouted 126 schools in Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska.

When that consortium failed he scouted specifically for the Seattle Seahawks for 1977-79. From the Seahawks he moved to scout for the San Francisco 49ers; he still lived in the Dallas area. While there,1979-1985, he was awarded Super Bowl rings for 1981 and 1984. Vic Retired from scouting in 1985.

Doris, his first wife, died in 1991. Vic is survived by his second wife, Frances Rattan, who he married in 1993, his son Stan, (BS Geology, Stanford class of 1962), daughter-in-law Bronwen (BA Physical Therapy, class of 1962), three granddaughters and four great grandchildren.